Ann wrote:
"I also agree that parents have the right in decisions.  I am not advocating
harming a baby but parents need to be in the decision process."


I would go one step further in the wording (and, Ann, you may have meant it
the same way)--parents are "the" decision-makers, not "in on" the decisions.
The fact is that in hospitals in the US, the idea that parents have anything to
say at all (never mind the right to decide) about birth or their infant's care
is mostly a joke--much lip-service is paid to the "rights of patients", but
mostly that right is respected only so long as it is never exercised. I would
also say, once again, that we, as advocates for breastfeeding, have a
responsibility to tell parents the truth, even if others do not like it that we have
done so. What I routinely see is the ritual of rolling out the minority case
where supplementation might have been appropriate, thus masking the reality that
in the vast majority of cases, it is not, and therefore, risky behaviour. I
would argue that if every single HCP involved in the care of infants in US
hospitals was truly educated about breastfeeding, or more importantly, the real and
serious dangers of AIM, then almost no baby would ever be exposed to such
supplements.
Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA

Kathleen Fallon Pasakarnis, M.Ed. IBCLC
Nurturing Family Lactation and Parenting Services

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